This Comic Captures What It's Like To Grow Up Mixed Race In America

Growing up half Japanese and half-Jamaican in Hawaii, 19-year-old Kiana Khansmith quietly struggled with misconceptions about being mixed race. “A lot of people seemed to know who I was more than I did,” the animation student at the California College of the Arts told HuffPost. “They would tell me what to be or how I should act based on my heritage.” When a professor in a race and comics course told the class to create a series based off personal experience, Khansmith knew exactly what to draw: a comic strip about the complexities of growing up multiracial in the U.S., as told by a character named Puppitty. Half-dog, half-cat, Puppity looks a little different than others and doesn’t always feel like she fits in, like many of multiracial descent: Some try to put Puppitty into boxes based off stereotypes ― something Khansmith said she dealt with often while growing up. “I would get a lot of stereotypes about being black or being Asian that would discredit my achievements,” the animation student told HufffPost. “Others would come up and say, ‘Just ignore them. You’re you!’” That latter was a “nice thought,” but not the easiest message to absorb as a little kid, Khansmith said. In the comic, Puppitty often has to explain her mixed identity to others in simple terms they’ll understand:  Khansmith used animals as her characters so people of all mixed backg...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news